Bon Appétit

If you have an extra minute, garnish the pie with chocolate shavings and cookie halves.

Known as dal in India, this dish is often offered over rice or topped with plain yogurt.

This old-fashioned dessert separates into two delicious layers while baking - a moist sponge cake and a light custard.

At the end of the century, vegetarian cooking gained wide acceptance-and became sophisticated. Wraps (basically burritos) were a hot fast food; everything from Thai chicken to ahi tuna got "wrapped" in flour tortillas or flatbread. The two trends pair up in this terrific dish. To make these even more like burritos, add one 15- to 16-ounce can of drained black beans to the filling.

Although it would be years before most Greek cooking would become familiar to Americans, one Greek dish, moussaka, did catch on in the seventies.

By the seventies, Julia Child, through her books and television shows, had made French food accessible, and the Cuisinart, introduced in 1973, made many of the cuisine’s more complicated techniques quick and simple. As a result, pâté became increasingly popular, and remains so today.

Alice Waters, who opened Chez Panisse in 1971, took salads to new heights with unusual, farm-fresh greens; she also popularized the use of goat cheese, which was being made by Laura Chenel not far from the Berkeley restaurant. Those ingredients come together in this delicious salad.

If you can't get the whole trout boned, buy four fillets. Steamed baby potatoes and sautéed matchstick size strips of carrot and zucchini are appropriate side dishes; lemon tartlets and tea finish the menu nicely.

Malloreddus, the saffron-flavored pasta shaped like gnocchi, is a Sardinian specialty. For convenience, we used dried pasta of a similar shape and added saffron to the pasta cooking water.

Israeli couscous, sometimes known as pearl pasta, is available at Middle Eastern markets. You could also order it from Joan's on Third in Los Angeles; 323-655-2285.

Pass these around to accompany cocktails before everyone sits down for dinner.

The secret to the crisp coating in this recipe? Crushed potato chips.

Dr. James Henry Salisbury might have been the first of the protein-diet doctors, proclaiming in 1888 that humankind's maladies were caused by too much starchy food. His solution? Chopped lean meat, or hamburger steak. To hide the "liver-y" taste of hamburger, he recommended adding horseradish, mustard or Worcestershire sauce. By the 1900s, Salisbury steak was a staple menu item, often served with mushroom gravy or smothered in onions. This version, inspired by today’s southwestern cooking, has terrific flavor.

Serve with: Crusty baguette slices and a salad of arugula dressed with Sherry vinaigrette. Dessert: Vanilla ice cream topped with warm caramel sauce.

Begin this at least one day ahead. Serve with Potato-Leek Matzo Balls and steamed asparagus. What to drink: A full-bodied red with robust fruit, such as Zinfandel or Australian Shiraz.

Using a mandoline (inexpensive versions are now widely available at cookware shops) makes short work of slicing the vegetables.

This was inspired by the Chicken Marbella recipe in The Silver Palate Cookbook. Partner it with couscous and carrots tossed with fresh mint. Afterward, spoon chopped chestnuts in vanilla syrup (a combination sold in jars) over vanilla frozen yogurt.